March 6: 'The Abolitionists' Film Showing

After a portion of the film is shown, a discussion will follow.

Mankato, Minn. – To mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Library Services at Minnesota State University, Mankato scheduled screenings of portions of two documentary films that chronicle the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

The second of those films, "The Abolitionists," will be shown on Thursday, March 6 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Centennial Student Union's Ostrander Auditorium.

This film depicts the anti-slavery movement through reenactments of the lives of individuals.

Following a showing of a portion of the film, Lori Lahlum, an associate professor and department chair in the Department of History at Minnesota State Mankato, will moderate a discussion.

The program is free and open to the public. The first 50 community attendees will be eligible to get parking passes for the visitors pay lot (Lot 4).

The first film shown in this series was "Slavery by Another Name" on Feb. 25.

The films are part of a four-film documentary set called “Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle” that chronicle the history of the Civil Rights Movement. The set was established through an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Minnesota State Mankato is one of 473 institutions across the country awarded the set of four films.

The other films in the set, “The Loving Story,” and “Freedom Riders,” will be shown at Minnesota State Mankato in the fall of 2014 as part of the university’s common read program. Visit www.createdequal.neh.gov for more information about the complete set.

These film showings are sponsored by the following offices, departments and programs at Minnesota State Mankato: Library Services, Kessel Institute for Peace and Change, Department of History and the Dr. Michael T. Fagin Pan African Student Leadership Conference.

The “Created Equal” film set and public programs have been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its “Bridging Cultures” initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

More information about the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is available at www.gilderlehrman.org. More information about the National Endowment for the Humanities is available at www.neh.gov.

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 15,409 students, is part of the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system, which comprises 31 state institutions.